Frozen Hands

Chapter Four

Somewhere outside Reykjavik, Monday, 6 a.m.

Lizzie slammed the door of Steve's truck shut as she got out. The trip was kind of awkward. There was tension in the air as a result of the events of Saturday night. They never got a chance to talk about it. Of course, that was Lizzie's intention. She kept Mark close yesterday so Steve wouldn't get a chance to bring it up. Was is childish? Yes. Did she want to deal with it when she was hung over? Definitely not. During the car ride she kept rambling about the excavation and their plan to avoid it.

It was much colder here than in the city. The upside of this cold weather was that the shock of the icy temperature instantly woke her up. Steve walked over to her.

"Mark will be here in fifteen minutes. Late as usual." Steve complained.

Lizzie shrugged. "I didn't expect anything else of him." She joked. The redhead looked around at her surroundings. It was absolutely beautiful. She couldn't help but smile.

"We should talk about Saturday night." Steve spoke carefully. Lizzie's smile instantly disappeared. He didn't want to upset her, he just wanted to clear the air.

"There's nothing to talk about, Steve. It was just a kiss. Besides, we were positively drunk, it didn't mean anything. Right?" She shot him a reassuring smile.

Steve nodded. "Right." He lied. To be honest, they both weren't sure what the kiss meant. They've always had this unspoken connection. Was it love? Or are they just platonic soulmates? They both knew, now wasn't the time to figure this out.

Steve and Lizzie agreed to unpack the equipment so they would be ready when Mark would arrive. Of course, it took him longer than fifteen minutes, closer to fourty.

"The princess hath finally arrived! Hoo-fucking-ray!" Lizzie exclaimed, with her usual sarcasm. Mark laughed as he walked up to her. "Watch your mouth, Lovelace."

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "You're late." She replied. "Then help me unpack so we can get started." He smiled innocently.

Inside the cave, 8 a.m.

Elizabeth stayed silent as the trio walked through the cave. It was a stunning view, shs had never experienced anything like this.

After about ten minutes of walking they arrived at the site. Lizzie just stared. She was in awe. What the actual fuck? How is this even possible? She was looking at the man frozen in ice. He looked asleep, like The Sleeping Beauty.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit." Mark broke the silence. "Up until now there was a part of me that thought you were kidding Steve."

"He must be about 300 years old, I mean look at his clothes." Lizzie pointed. "Very 18th century England."

"What's an 18th century English men doing in an ice cave in Iceland?" Mark stated the obvious.

"That's for us to find out. Let's get to work guys." Steve said.

Reykjavik laboratory, 3 p.m.

Lizzie was still shivering. During the excavation the cold got to her. Steve noticed and wrapped his arm around her. She flinched at first, but then gave in. It felt nice.

"How do we even know he'll wake up?" Lizzie asked, they were all staring at the body of the John Doe.

The excavation was succesfull. It took longer than anticipated but the trio was content. Even more important, no one at the laboratory noticed them sneaking in a body. Mark spent the last hour checking vitals and attaching medical equipment to the mystery man. Steve and Lizzie didn't understand what exactly he was doing, which made them glad that Mark was there to help them.

"Well, we have a pulse. But I think we should watch him until he wakes up. Or dies. I'll take the first shift, you guys get some rest and take the night shift." Mark suggested.

Steve and Lizzie nodded. "We'll bring you some food when we relieve you." Lizzie gave Mark a hug to say goodbye, she knew he liked that. Right now she did too, she needed every bit of warmth she could get.

"Let's go Liz, you're in need of a hot shower." Steve smiled at her.